Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State, has directed the immediate removal of Okosughe Benson Eseimokumo, Paramount Ruler of Ogboinbiri Community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, following Tuesday’s violent conflict that engulfed the community.
- +Communal clash: Diri sacks paramount ruler, chiefs in Bayelsa community
Diri handed down the punishment on Thursday during the April 2026 Praise Night at the King of Glory Chapel in Government House, Yenagoa.
Diri handed down the punishment on Thursday during the April 2026 Praise Night at the King of Glory Chapel in Government House, Yenagoa.
He also directed the immediate dissolution of the Ogboinbiri Council of Chiefs, Community Development Committee and the youth body.
Tuesday’s violence claimed the life of one Deiyefa Ofolo, a former youth president of the community, and resulted in attacks on the house of the deposed paramount ruler and his relatives, which prompted the state government to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the community.
The governor equally directed Peter Akpe, his deputy and Thompson Amule, commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, to constitute an interim committee to oversee the affairs of Ogboinbiri pending the restoration of peace and security.
Diri charged the commissioner of Police to ensure that all culprits directly involved in the incident are apprehended and brought to justice.
According to him, the state government was yet to accord Eseimokumo full recognition as paramount ruler pending the resolution of the protracted conflicts in Ogboinbiri.
His words: “Security is everyone’s business. The state has been peaceful except for the unfortunate recent incident of killing and arson in Ogboinbiri community.
“I have been very patient with Ogboinbiri community. Violent disputes had been on for about two to three years now.
“I had set up different committees to resolve the lingering conflict there to no avail. I even directed my deputy to intervene. I invited the traditional ruler and the youths to my office in Yenagoa and, yet, recently there was killing and burning of houses.
“The Commissioner of Police and all security agencies are hereby directed to ensure that all those directly involved in that dastardly act are arrested and the law must take its full course. To that extent, all youth-related bodies in Ogboinbiri are from this day dissolved. The CDC from this day stands dissolved.
“The paramount ruler of Ogboinbiri is hereby sacked as he was yet to be recognised by the state government. I was waiting for peace to be restored for us to recognise him but, unfortunately, l am very sure he cannot hold that community together. We must say no to the evil acts in Ogboinbiri.”
Diri expressed concern over violent clashes in oil producing communities arising from sharing of proceeds from oil companies operating in their areas, noting that the proceeds, which he called peanuts, could not be compared to what oil firms benefit from such communities.
“We cannot afford to kill ourselves for pecuniary gains or for whatever reasons. Ogboinbiri is an oil producing community and l keep telling them that what they are receiving are peanuts compared to what the oil companies get from Ogboinbiri.”
BusinessDay reliably gathered that four persons have been arrested in connection with Tuesday’s violence as police investigation into the crisis continued.
